


Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Clint and Lucky

by literally_no_idea



Series: Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH) Main Series [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Deaf, Deaf Character, Deaf Clint Barton, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, SDfSH 'verse, Service Animals, Service Dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 04:46:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17676722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literally_no_idea/pseuds/literally_no_idea
Summary: Clint watches a stray dog get hit by a car, and decides to bring the dog back to the tower to get him help.When Natasha sees how well Clint and the dog get along, she has an idea.It turns out to be one of her better ideas.





	Service Dogs for Superheroes (SDfSH): Clint and Lucky

Natasha blames Clint for this.

 

She finds Clint when he comes home to the tower at 4am on a Saturday, which is fairly normal on its own, but he’s carrying a lump of fur covered in blood, and asking if Tony happens to have any veterinarians on site.

 

Tony does not, in fact, have any veterinarians on site, but a few quick calls and he has a veterinarian arrive within 30 minutes, dragging Clint along into a room on the medical floor to examine the dog in his arms.

 

Natasha waits with Clint in the hallway while the dog undergoes multiple procedures, and it's a little after 11am when the vet emerges, reassuring them that the dog is fine, he’ll just need a few weeks to recover, and Clint or someone else will need to keep a close eye on him to make sure he's safe and healthy.

 

They assure the vet that they’ll do that, and the vet brings the dog to them, leaving shortly after. The dog greets Natasha, whole body wagging with enthusiasm, then turns to Clint, and the dog puts his head in Clint’s lap, licking and nudging his hands until Clint starts petting him.

 

It might just be her, but Natasha thinks the dog has already attached himself to Clint.

 

By the end of the first week, Clint has named the dog Lucky, and every time Clint enters a room Lucky’s in, Lucky’s ears perk up, and he turns to look at Clint.

 

By the end of the second week, Natasha spots Clint sneaking Lucky some of the pepperoni off of his pizza, and anywhere Clint sits, Lucky curls up at his feet. If Clint stands up and walks away, Lucky slumps, watching him go.

 

By the end of the third week, Clint has started referring to himself and Lucky as “the eyes and the ears,” because “Get it? I'm hard of hearing but a great shot, and Lucky’s half blind but hears a lot? Get it?” Lucky follows wherever Clint goes, trailing behind him like a little duckling.

 

By the end of the month, Clint has taught Lucky some circus tricks, and Natasha watches Clint’s expression when Lucky does his tricks, sees the way his eyes don’t always quite match his smile. Lucky walks with Clint everywhere, and his body language positively lights up whenever Clint looks at him.

 

Watching Lucky perform circus tricks also gives Natasha an idea, so she takes a few days to do some research, approaching Clint about it one morning over breakfast.

 

“So, you and Lucky really seem to get along,” she says, filling up a mug of coffee and plopping down at the breakfast nook beside Clint.

 

“Yeah,” Clint says, grinning, “he’s pretty awesome, isn't he? He's so smart, too. And it's cool, having a dog around. It’s kind of like having a sidekick,” he adds, reaching down to scratch Lucky behind the ears.

 

“I’m glad he makes you happy, you deserve to be happy more,” Natasha says, and it breaks her heart a little when Clint just shrugs. “So, I’ve been learning about service dogs recently, and I was thinking maybe we could train Lucky to be an actual service dog for you. He seems to really love you, and like you said, he's very smart, so he’d probably be able to help you a lot.”

 

Clint pauses, fork halfway to his mouth. “A service dog? But don't you need to be like, disabled to have a service dog? I mean I love Lucky, but I wouldn't pretend he’s something he’s not.”

 

“Clint,” Natasha says, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder, “I know you still have flashbacks about your dad. And just because you fake it well doesn't mean you aren't hard of hearing still. I've seen you flinch when someone comes up behind you with your hearing aids out. I know it's only sometimes, but Lucky could help. Psychiatric service dogs exist, and I think Lucky would be great for you.”

 

Clint finally takes the bite of food he's had on his fork, taking a moment to process his thoughts. He takes a few more bites before turning back to Natasha. “Okay. Yeah, okay. How do we train him though? I’ve never really had a dog before, and definitely not a service dog. Like, I think this is way out of my league to train.”

 

“Hey, you've already taught Lucky circus tricks, you know what you're going through mentally and physically, and we’re both highly skilled humans who work on a team with literal gods. I think we can figure this out.”

 

As it turns out, training a service dog is both much easier and much harder than either of them had expected; Lucky learns quickly, and seems to love his job, but Clint has a hard time breaking some of his bad habits with Lucky.

 

“But he loves pizza!” Clint protests the first time Natasha tells him he needs to stop sneaking Lucky food from his plate.

 

“Exactly, and if you get him used to eating pizza with you, he’s going to start begging at the table in restaurants, and you’re going to get kicked out,” Natasha reminds him, and Clint grumbles, but keeps the rest of the pizza on his plate to himself.

 

Natasha still sees him sneak Lucky food from time to time, but, while she’s a little exasperated, she figures that Lucky’s smart enough to know the difference between home and public access behavior, so she gives up trying to discuss the problem with Clint.

 

It takes about six months to train Lucky his obedience commands and his actual tasks; Natasha thinks that it probably only took that long because she and Clint had to figure out how to train the behaviors in the first place, and they’d definitely made mistakes along the way, having to go back and redo entire weeks of training.

 

Lucky’s not perfect; no dog is, and Natasha wouldn’t expect him to be. But he’s almost always focused, and he performs his tasks correctly almost every time, without fail, so Natasha thinks they’ve done good. Some occasional refresher training, just to keep Lucky’s skills up, and he should have no problems at all.

 

The first time Lucky goes out in public, it’s just Natasha and Clint, and they go out for some coffee at a little place a few blocks from the tower. It’s a quiet little place, warm and cozy with lots of booths and tables spread around the room. They choose a booth so Lucky has more room to lay down, and he curls up under the table at their feet while they talk and drink their drinks.

 

When they go to leave, Lucky comes out from under the table, dropping into a heel beside Clint, and a couple of women nearby gasp, watching Lucky in amazement. “I didn't even know there was a dog under there,” one of the women whispers, and Natasha feels a bit of pride, because that was all her, Clint, and Lucky’s hard work in training.

 

As they reach the door, a man stops them, putting his hand on Clint’s shoulder. “Hey,” he says, and Clint stiffens. It’s not very obvious, but Lucky presses a little closer to his side, looking up at him. “Your dog is adorable,” the man says, and Clint relaxes slightly, puts on a smile Natasha knows is fake and thanks him.

 

They walk out, and Natasha wraps an arm around Clint’s shoulder. “How are you feeling?” She asks, and Clint shrugs.

 

“Not bad? He does make it easier.”

 

Natasha smiles. “Good. You two are great together. You’re both really good for each other.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm having a small dilemma. I'm not sure whether to post this series as separate works, or just as chapters of one work.
> 
> If I post each "chapter" as a separate work, it'll be easier to tag and, since each "chapter" is related to the others but doesn't really /need/ to be read in sequence/all together, people can just read the ones they want to read and ignore the others.
> 
> On the other hand, if I post them all as chapters of a single work, while the tags will be messier, you'll be able to read the whole thing in its entirety on one page if you wanted.
> 
> Thoughts, everyone? Opinions?
> 
> Optionally, I could do it as separate works, and then make another single work that has everything listed as chapters under a single work, so you could choose whichever format you prefer, if that makes sense.
> 
> Let me know if you have a preference, I'd love to know what would work better for everyone.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you did, or even if you didn't, in the comments!
> 
> (Next up is Tony Stark, for anyone who's curious.)


End file.
